Category Archives: Biblical Studies

State power and the death of a man

Posted on June 17, 2020 by

The recent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands (or rather knees) of police officers has caused a wave of protests around the world. The protesters expressed their outrage at police violence and racism. Even though many other … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Assyria, Bible, Biblical Studies, History, Israel, Scholarly articles | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ashamed of the Old Testament?

Posted on September 30, 2019 by

As I noted in a few blog posts, there is a tendency in Christian theology and practice to disregard the Old Testament, or even to actively deny that it has any significance for the Church. Apart from any of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Biblical Studies, Church, Israel, Judah | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A new Marcionism

Posted on August 30, 2019 by

Marcionism is a Christian heresy that was first denounced in 144 AD (CE). Marcion of Sinope proclaimed that the Old Testament could not be reconciled with the New Testament, and that the New Testament proclaimed a different god to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Biblical Studies, Church, Discussion, Israel | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Household food storage in Ancient Israel and Judah

Posted on December 10, 2018 by

My book “Household food storage in Ancient Israel and Judah” has been published by Archaeopress. It is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation completed for the University of Bern. It explores household food storage by looking at texts, pictorial … Continue reading →

Posted in archaeological theory, Archaeology, artifacts, Bible, Biblical Studies, excavations, Gustaf Dalman, History, Household Archaeology, Israel, Judah, Lachish, Tell Halif | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Assyrians in Israel

Posted on October 26, 2018 by

I published several blog posts on the Assyrian rule of the Levant, especially of the Philistine cities and parts of Judah. see here, here, here, and here. There is a debate among scholars to what extent the Assyrians exploited the … Continue reading →

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Literary criticism and agendas

Posted on September 4, 2018 by

I have recently read an article that argues that we use too much masculine imagery when referring to God, in particular the term “Father”. Such an argument is often made and one of which few would not be aware of. … Continue reading →

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People in history

Posted on July 31, 2017 by

I was recently asked to comment on an article by Israel Finkelstein, which discussed the history of Ancient Israel. As could be expected, the article had some good points, reference to archaeological conclusions, declarations of scholarly consensus where no consensus … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Biblical Studies, Discussion, History | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The freedom and responsibility of Biblical Studies

Posted on May 26, 2017 by

Recently, I summarized a theme in the Old Testament and was told that I could not express it in that way, because it is not how contemporary theologians would address it. I replied that I was not primarily stating a … Continue reading →

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